Kevin Allen is an American sports journalist and author. He was the national hockey writer forUSA Today from 1986 to December 2019. Allen has been editor of hockey website Detroit Hockey Now since leavingUSA Today.
Allen graduated fromWayne Memorial High School in 1974 and attendedEastern Michigan University.[1] In his freshman year, he earned his first paid writing assignment with the University newspaper by interviewing Eastern Michigan football coachGeorge Mans.[2]
After university, Allen accepted a position with a local paper as a sports and political writer. He covered high school Native American reservation football and Arizona State football games.[1] He began his sports journalism career withThe Times Herald in 1982 as a writer covering theDetroit Red Wings from 1982 to 1986.[3] As a reporter, Allen broke the news ofMario Lemieux coming out of retirement to play for thePittsburgh Penguins. Of the incident Eric Duhatschek, Vice President of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, stated "That was a clean kill by Kevin. Nobody else had it. Local guys didn't get a whiff of it. National guys didn't get a whiff of it. Kevin got it. You only get stuff like that with one part asking the right question at the right time, but also having a lot of people in your sphere who trust you and to tell you things."[4]
In 2003, Allen was elected president of theProfessional Hockey Writers' Association.[5] Allen has also authored 16 hockey-related books. He was awarded theLester Patrick Trophy in 2013, for his contributions to hockey in the United States.[3] The next year, he was the 2014 recipient of theElmer Ferguson Memorial Award.[6] In 2019,Frank Seravalli was elected the new president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and Allen was named secretary.[7]